Tastes

Appearance: classy bottle,non-chill-filtered and no colorant added, but a dark amber nonetheless; 43% clearly stated. Slow to form legs, slow when they come. Ticks all the boxes for me. 10. Smell: Sweet. Turbinado or demerara sugar; European oak, wood, spices: nutmeg, coriander; dates, dried apricots. Taste: arrives sweet with honey, dates, demerara sugar. Continues sweet then turns ever so slightly sour and then earthy perfumed (in a good way): sandalwood, patchouli, myrrh. Ends with sherry and European oak, and an almost cognac-like wineyness; scorched sweetness lingers. Pretty hefty body, but not oily. Finish: Earthy, oaky, sweetness lingers. Honey-nuttiness. Really satisfying, and more than moderate length. Overall: This one lives up to the hype. I’m not a huge fan of sherried whiskies, but I like keeping one around just for when the mood strikes. This is a good one to have to scratch that itch. Certainly in the top ten whiskies I’ve had (around 80). 68/80 or 81/100 on my scoring scales.

A: initially sharp, then honeycrisp apple, malt, slight tartness. P: arrives slightly bitter, transitions to a plain vanilla maltiness, light oak, and a sparkle of honeycrisp apple or ripe pear at the end. Thin. F: plain, bordering on boring, vanilla, oak, and the tiniest hint of ash. O: perhaps something in my handling of the sample, but this did not live up to my memory of it from a 2014 happy hour. Average entry level malt, bordering on sub-par. Worth a revisit. (50/100).

N: Malt, sweet, straw, oak. Subtle tropical fruit. 2.5. T: Vanilla, honey, malt, oak. Hint of peach. Slight bitter “off” note. 2.85. F: Best part. Vague fruit, oak, vanilla. Moderate length; 60 seconds strong. O: A youthful, higher ABV BC matured Highland style. At $35 a steal, but at $55 totally not worth it. Nothing really sets it apart. 3.0